MASTERING 3D VIEWS

William Gruber put the magic of stereoscopic photos in our hands.

BY BOB KNETZGER

Wouldn’t it be fun if you could take your own family pictures in thrilling 3D? That’s what William Gruber thought back in 1939. Although stereo photography had been around for years, creating your own 3D photos was more than a little complicated.

It required special cameras and lots of technical know-how to “fuse” together two images to create a deep 3D space. That was fine for hardcore hobbyists, but what about the average person? For them, Gruber cleverly combined several elements to create View-Master, a system for making and viewing 3D photos.

Gruber realized that the then-new Kodachrome 16mm film could be used for more than just movies. The ...

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